What's in the bipartisan infrastructure bill? Here's how it breaks down.

amtrak joe biden
U.S. Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden greets supporters after arriving on an Amtrak train for a campaign stop in Alliance, Ohio, U.S., September 30, 2020.
  • A group of Republican senators and the White House have reached a new bipartisan infrastructure agreement.
  • The plan includes $550 billion in new spending, $30 billion less than a prior proposal.
  • It encompasses investments in public transit, clean energy, electric vehicles, and roads and bridges.
  • See more stories on Insider's business page.

A group of key Senate Republicans and the White House announced Wednesday that they had reached an agreement on a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package. The bill includes $550 billion in new spending - $30 billion less than the original bipartisan agreement hashed out last month.

While there will likely be more proposals on infrastructure spending from Democrats - although Sen. Kyrsten Sinema has blocked Democrats' $3.5 trillion in proposed party-line spending - the bipartisan bill would still encompass a major investment. It's also already passed a test vote in the Senate. Here's how it breaks down.

Roads, bridges, and transit safety

According to a White House fact sheet, the deal will put $110 billion toward road, bridges, and other projects. Those investments will "focus on climate change mitigation, resilience, equity, and safety for all users, including cyclists and pedestrians." That includes:

  • $40 billion for bridges, which would go toward repairs and replacements
  • $17.5 billion for other "complex," major projects that aren't traditionally eligible for funding
  • In addition, the deal would put $11 billion toward "transportation safety programs," with an emphasis on pedestrians and cyclists

Trains, buses, and ferries (oh my!)

The deal invests in both transit infrastructure and Amtrak, President Joe Biden's beloved form of transit.

  • $39 billion for public transit, which would go toward upgrading and modernizing infrastructure, and increasing accessibility
  • $66 billion for rail, which includes:
    • $22 billion in Amtrak grants
    • $24 billion in grants to help modernize the Northeast Corridor (a politically important route, which even has its own slew of Northeast presidential primaries named after it: the Acela primaries)
    • $12 billion toward intercity rail
    • $5 billion in "rail improvement and safety grants"
    • $3 billion for other safety improvements
  • $2.5 billion for zero emission buses
  • $2.5 billion for low emission buses
  • $2.5 billion for ferries

Electric vehicles

  • $7.5 billion to create a network of electric vehicle chargers across the country

Water and air

  • $17 billion in ports
  • $25 billion for airports, with an emphasis on addressing backlogs and reducing emission in both types of ports
  • "Over $50 billion" in water infrastructure, with an emphasis on building resiliency amidst climate change and cyber attacks
  • $55 billion toward clean drinking water, which includes replacing lead pipes

Internet and power

  • $65 billion for high-speed broadband
  • $73 billion for grid modernization, which the White House says is the "single largest investment in clean energy transmission in American history"

Climate change and community

  • $1 billion toward reconstructing and reconcieving infrastructure that physically divides communities, as seen in the fact that "significant portions of the interstate highway system were built through Black neighborhoods"
  • $21 billion toward "environmental remediation," which will address idle energy sites that are, on the whole, disproportionately closer to Americans of color. The funds mark "the largest investment in addressing the legacy pollution," per the White House

How it's funded

The White House did not specify how offsets for the bill will break down, saying simply it'll be financed by utilizing previously unspent relief funding, "targeted corporate user fees," and increased tax enforcement on cryptocurrencies - a far cry from Biden's original proposed tax enforcement measures.

However, the New York Times reports that those unspent relief funds will make up $205 billion, and $53 billion could come from unspent funds in states that ended their participation in federal unemployment benefits. Cryptocurrency enforcement is expected to net $28 billion. The proposal also reportedly assumes that the investments will bring in $56 billion through economic growth alone.

Read the original article on Business Insider


Contributer : Business Insider https://ift.tt/3x7xCPX
What's in the bipartisan infrastructure bill? Here's how it breaks down. What's in the bipartisan infrastructure bill? Here's how it breaks down. Reviewed by mimisabreena on Friday, July 30, 2021 Rating: 5

No comments:

Sponsor

Powered by Blogger.